Combined measuring and dispensing bin.



Witnesses L. B. THOMAS.

GOMBINBDMBASURING AND DISPENSING BIN. APPLICATION II LED we. 1, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

i imam Attorneys L. B-. THOMAS.-

"COMBINED MEASURING AND DISPENSING BIN.

AYPLIOATION IILEI) AUG. 1, 1912. I 4

Patented May 19,1914.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witne sses I i Inventor Z I r I v Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUTHER B. THOMAS, 015 SHREVEPORT, LOITISIANA, ASSIGNOB. 0F ONE-TENTH T0J". M. ROBINSON, OF BAYOU LA CHUTE, LOUISIANA.

COMBINED MEASURING AND DISPENSING BIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed October 16, 1911, Serial No. 654,900. Dividedand this application filed August 1,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LUTHER BJTHOMAS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Shreveport, in the parish ofOaddo and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful CombinedMeasuring and Dispensing Bin, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to computing bins and is more particularly adivision of an ap plication filed in the United States Patent Office byme on October 16, 1911, said application bearing Serial No. 654,900.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide improved means wherebymaterial to be dispensed can be measured.

Another object is to provide improved means for cutting off the materialin measured quantities, means being provided for preventing leakage ofthe measured material and for protecting it from dust, etc.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly inside elevation of a bin having the present improvements combinedtherewith. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the bin. Fig. 3is an enlarged longitudinal section through the top of the measuringcompartment and showing the cut-0E in elevation. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection through a portion of the apparatus and showing the slideshifting lever in plan, said section being taken on the line 0-D Fig. 2.Fig. 5 is a section on line 24-13 Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a plan view of amodified form of cut-ofi and connections. Fig. 7 is a front elevationthereof. Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevation of the slide and showingthe clips thereon.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates astorage bin having a transverse shaft 2 in the bottom portion thereofwhich may be driven by means of a Serial No. 712,757.

Patented May 19, 1914.

chain 8 engaging a sprocket 4 secured to the may be driven by means of acrank 7 or the like. Obviously any other suitable means may be used fordriving the shaft 2.

The pin 1 constitutes a pedestal on which is mounted an upper dispensingbin 45 having a dispensing compartment 46 in the upper portion thereofand which is adapted to be supplied from the storage bin 1 by means ofan endless elevator 10. This elevator is actuated by shaft 2 and ismounted on guide sprockets 11 or the like mounted in the upper portionof the bin 45 said elevator having a portion thereof overhanging thecompartment 46 so that, as the buckets 12 of the elevator are broughtsuccessively into position above said compartment 46, they will dumptheir contents into the compartment.

The compartment 46 is provided with an outlet 47 opening into ameasuring compartment 44 which is inclined relative to the bin and hasan outlet spout 43, the spout and measuring compartment being preferablyinclined at an angle of about 45 degrees or more to the bottom of thebin. The outlet 47 of the dispensing bin 45 is normally closed by meansof a laterally movable slide 48 preferably operated by means of ahorizontal lever 49 one end of which extends through a transverse slot50 in the front of the bin 45 while the other end has an arm 51extending perpendicularly therefrom and pivotally connected to one sideof the slide 48. Thus it will be seen that when the lever is pushed toone side the slide will be opened and when the front end of the lever ispushed in the opposite direction the slide will be closed. A spring 52may be located at any suitable point and is attached to the lever 49 soas to hold the slide normally closed. The measuring compartment 44 isprovided with a back plate 53 having a stem 54 adjustably mounted in theback or lower wall of the compartment 44. The means provided foradjusting the stem preferably con sists of a lever 55 fulcrumed at oneend within the bin 45 and having an adjusting screw 56 pivotallyconnected to its other end and extending through a bracket 57 on thefront face of the bin 45. Said screw is engaged by an adjusting nut 58whereby the lever 55 can be swung upwardly or downwardly so 2 rollers. Acut-off plate sleeve in any position to which it may '30 adjusted. Asshown in Fig. 8, this clip can portion of the cord.

as to move the stem 54 and the plate 53 in the desired direction. It isto be understood of course that there is a movable connection betweenthe lever 55 and the stem 5 54, said connection being preferably in theform of a pin 59 mounted within a slot 60.

When the measuring compartment 44 is inclined, it is preferably extendedunder the dispensing compartment 46 so that a recess 61 is thus formedbetween the bottom of the compartment 46 and the top of the measuringcompartment 44. The bottom of this recess is formed by the top 85 of themeasuring compartment. This top 85 has an 5 opening 86 the side walls ofwhich are from a strip 80 which, in turn, is pivotally connected to asleeve 81 slidably mounted on a guide rod 82. Said sleeve has a springclip of any desired form for locking the consist of opposed grippinglevers 83 and a spring 84 interposed between the levers and serving topress them yleldingly against the rod 82. lit will be apparent that byreleasmg the clip from the guide rod 82, the sleeve 81 can be movedalong said rod to any desired pomt and the cut-off plate 77 can be swungdownwardly into position between v any two adjoining rollers 88. In thisstruci4'0 ture an indicator casing 33 extends across the front of theplate 85 and has an open front face through which appears a graduatedstrip 34 having data thereon lndlcatlng pounds and the prices thereof.This strip 4 34 is remo-vably mounted in the casing 33 and is preparedfor use with one kind of material to be dispensed. Should another kindof material of a difi'erent weight and price be substituted a differentstrip 34 would be inserted into the casing 33. An index or pointer 35 ismounted to slide longitudinally ofthe casing 33 and is connected to acord 36 or the like. This cord extends longitudinally through the casing33 and is mounted on guide sheaves 37. One end of the cord is attachedto the sleeve 81 while the other end is connected to a spring 38 which,in turn, is secured to the bin. The pointer 35 is of course connected toan intermediate It will be apparent that when the sleeve 81 is pulleddownwardly, the cord 36 will be moved therewith and cause the pointer orindex 35 to move longitudinally of the casing 33, thus elongating thespring 38. WVhen, however, the

sleeve 81 is raised, the spring 38 will hold the cord taut and move theindex in the oppcsite direction.

It is thought that the operation of the apparatus will be understoodfrom the foregoing description when read in connection with theaccompanying drawings. By shifting the cut-off 77 until a desiredgraduation is indicated by the index 35, and then moving the cut-oftdownwardly between the rollers thereunder so as to close the measuringcompartment 44, the cut-off 48 can be shifted whereupon material withinthe bin 46 will flow into the measuring compartment until saidcompartment is completely filled above the cut-off 77. Plate 48 is thenshifted back to closed position after which the cut-off 77 is tilted orswung out of position so as to permit the contents of the measuringcompartment to gravitate from the compartment through the spout 43. Bymeans of the lever 55 and its cooperating parts, the transverse area ofthe measuring compartment can be varied at will. Instead of mounting thecut-0E upon a pivoted structure, as heretofore described, a slide 94 maybe mounted on the top plate of the measuring compartment and may beprovided with guides 95 in which the cut-off 96 is adapted to slide. Theslide 94 may be connected to a guide rod 97 by means of a clip 98fastened to the slide. This structure has been illustrated in Figs. 6and 7.

What is claimed is 1. Apparatus of the class described including ameasuring compartment having an opening in one wall thereof, bodilymovable elements disposed normally in the same plane for normallyclosing the opening, means for yieldingly pressing said elements, and acutoff adapted to be inserted between any two adjacent elements and tomove those at one side of the cut-off against said yielding means thecutoff being movable through the opening into the measuring compartment.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a measuring compartment havingan opening in one wall, bodily movable elements disposed in the sameplane and normally closing the opening, means for yieldingly pressingsaid elements, and a cut oif within the opening and compartment andshiftable relative to the opening.

3. Apparatus of the class described including a measuring compartmenthaving an opening in one wall, means comprising separate elements forclosing the opening and disposed in the same plane, yielding means forholding said elements normally in contact, and a cut-off movable betweenany two of said elements and into the measuring compartment, saidelements being individually movable bodily relative to each, other.

4. Apparatus of the class described ineluding a measuring compartmenthaving an opening in one wall, parallel rollers constituting a closurefor said opening, yielding means for holding the rollers normally incontact, and a cut-off movable between any two of the rollers and intothe compartment.

5. Apparatus of the class described including a dispensing compartment,a measuring compartment communicating therewith, means for closingcommunication between the compartments, a back plate adj ustably mountedwithin the measuring compartment, a cut-off plate adjustablelongitudinally of the measuring compartment, means for shifting thecut-off plate into and out of the measuring compartment, an adjustinglever, means for actuating the same, and a connection between said leverand the back plate.

6. The combination with a dispensing bin having an adjustable measuringcompartment having an opening in one wall thereof, of yielding meansnormally closing the opening, a guide extending longitudinally of theopening, a member slidable on the guide, a cut-off movable with saidmember, said outofi being insertible between the yielding means and intothe measuring compartment.

7. The combination with a dispensing bin having an adjustable measuringcompartment having an opening in one wall thereof, of yielding meansnormally closing the opening, a guide extending longitudinally of theopening, a member slidable on the guide, a cut-0E movable with saidmember, said outoff being insertible between the yielding means and intothe measuring compartment, and means controlled by said movable memberfor indicating the amount of material supported by the cut-01f withinthe measuring compartment.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LUTHER B. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

W. G. LANING, G. W. HAYS.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

